When looking over the history of rock and roll in the United Kingdom, there are a few completely unavoidable names. One, of course, is The Beatles, who changed songwriting and music production indefinitely with their many innovations. Another is hard rock progenitors Led Zeppelin, who came to define the sounds of British rock music during the 1970s, inspiring the development of heavy metal and inspiring future generations of rock and roll obsessives for years to come.

On the face of it, there are not many similarities between these two groups. After all, The Beatles favoured pop-centric love songs and, in their later period, far-out psychedelic rock, whereas Led Zeppelin stuck rigidly to the abrasive sounds of 1970s hard rock, complete with intricate guitar riffs delivered expertly by Jimmy Page and the flamboyant singing of Robert Plant. On top of that, Led Zeppelin only got together in 1968, when The Beatles were very much in their end-game as a band, two short years before they finally parted ways.

Seemingly, though, there is a strange connection between The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, and the uniting figure between the two comes in the unlikely form of Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. The songwriter had forged something of a friendship with The Beatles after meeting them while hanging around with Bob Dylan – likely during his 1965 tour of England, which was documented in the incredible film Don’t Look Back.

As a result of this meeting, Donovan was often called upon by The Beatles, leading him to contribute sporadically to the recording process. For instance, the songwriter contributed two lines to the song ‘Yellow Submarine’ at the request of Paul McCartney. So, when Donovan came to record his defining track ‘Sunshine Superman’ in 1965, The Beatles were in the very next room working on Rubber Soul.

“Mickie Most, my producer, asked, ‘What do you want on it,’” Donovan recalled during a 2016 interview with Billboard. “I said, ‘Harpsichord. I want jazz guitar.’ He said, ‘OK, I’ll bring a great guitar player, a jazz band and classical instruments.’ John Cameron arranged it. We arrived at the session at Abbey Road, and next door was The Beatles.” This is where the curious connection to Led Zeppelin comes into play.

During this period, in the mid-1960s, future Led Zeppelin guitar hero Jimmy Page was working as one of the most prolific and sought-after session musicians in the country. “We started the session,” Donovan remembered, “and in walks Jimmy Page, I couldn’t believe it. Here was an extraordinary situation. Jimmy had to play a jazz style on this, and he did. That was amazing, that session, and it took one hour to record the music, and Mickie Most knew we had something special.”

‘Sunshine Superman’ is a particularly good track as it is, but knowing that both Jimmy Page and The Beatles had a hand in its construction adds an entirely new level of appreciation to Donovan’s composition. Of course, it would be another few years before Page moved on from life as a session musician, but the jazz-style guitar playing featured on the track speaks to the adaptability of his talents, which would later be showcased within Led Zeppelin.